Student of the Airbender
by Ixidor Alucard
Summary: Sequel to "The Other Airbender". Avin returns, now Kalden, a cheerful airbender. Armed with a new friend in Zuko, Aang struggles to master fire, along with air, which he realizes he must now remaster. The problem is, without a teacher, what can Aang do..?
1. Chapter 1: Renovatio! Avin no more!

**A/N: The sequel to "The Other Airbender", Avin returns, with a twist. Reading "The Other Airbender" is recommended, since there are plot points you might not understand, at least at first. However, I'll do my best to explain things as painlessly as possible, so don't worry. Read, review, and enjoy, as always. That said, on with the show!**

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Toph grinned as she knocked out a guard on her right. She felt Aang rush a guard on her left, and Zuko take out a soldier behind her.

"How do you always get us into these situations, Twinkle Toes?"

"Me? This time it was Zuko's fault!"

"What? I'm the one who helped you guys escape that prison in the first place!" Zuko exclaimed, shooting fire at an incoming soldier.

"Does it really matter at this point?" Katara asked, as she used her water whip on an incoming soldier, "Can we just, you know, get out of here?"

"Good idea," Zuko muttered as the group ran out of the village, fighting back soldiers as they went.

**With Avin**

_Time to wake up. Come on, we got to get out of bed. It's a new day! _

The boy yawned as he sat up in his bed. He stretched his arms, and noticed they were bandaged in many places.

"Hmm…" The boy examined his bandages. They were wrapped tightly around his arms, and the boy wiggled his fingers impatiently. At least they weren't bandaged.

"Hey, he's awake!" A young boy with red hair had just entered the room. He walked to the side of the bed and put his tray down.

"He is?" A girl's voice asked, shocked, and the girl quickly ran into the room. She had light brown hair that flowed down to her waist, and wore a red tunic.

"Hi," the injured boy said, waving a hand up, and then clutching his arm.

"Aghh," he groaned in pain as the girl grabbed her notes and sat on the bed.

"Hi, you're probably really, really confused right now, so I'm going to introduce myself first. I'm Tiza, and I helped you recover."

"I'm Rizu, her brother," the red-haired boy said, "And I helped, too!"

"It's nice to meet you," the boy said quietly, "But, what do you mean recover…? What am I doing here?"

Tiza and Rizu exchanged glances, and Tiza asked, "So, you don't remember what happened, or how you got here?"

The boy tried to recall, but shook his head, confused. "Nothing."

"Okay," Tiza replied, writing in her notes again, "I'm going to ask you a few questions, and we're going to see what to do from there, okay? Make sure you answer these questions honestly."

"Don't worry, my sister knows what she's doing," Rizu said, "She's really smart."

"O-ok," the boy said, as he looked at his bandaged hand.

"First of all- do you remember your name?"

"Sure, it's-" the boy's head snapped up, as he struggled to remember, "I…I don't remember…"

"Hmm," Tiza said, scribbling in her notes, "I think we can safely add amnesia to your list of conditions."

"I've got amnesia?" The boy asked, shocked.

"Well, obviously," Tiza asked, "Unless you'd be able to remember anything from before your accident? Anything at all?"

The boy shook his head, and Tiza continued, "Well, we'll explain to you what we know. My brother and I found you, a few weeks ago, and a few miles off-shore. We brought you here and did our best to heal your injuries, and the fact that you're here, talking to us, means our efforts were an incredible success."

"Why incredible?" The boy asked.

"Well," Tiza explained, "Because of the heavy injuries you had taken. Let's see what we have here…" she looked over her notes, "We got some broken bones, some burns, a lot of minor sprains and bruises…a head injury. Hmm, that would be the cause of the amnesia, no doubt…Not to mention we found you floating in the ocean, which I'm sure wasn't helping you heal."

"Hey, Tiza, wait," Rizu said, "We forgot his name,"

"Oh, yeah," Tiza said, snapping her fingers, "Look, since you couldn't give us a name last time we talked, we decided to find a new name, just in case your memory loss was permanent."

"We talked before?" the boy asked, confused.

"Please stay with us here," Tiza asked, "Now, listen, under your bandages are some very odd burn marks, shaped like arrows. If that sounds at all familiar, it's because airbenders used to have tattoos shaped like arrows. So, we got you an airbender name: Kalden."

"Kalden," the boy said, trying it out, "I like it."

"Great," Tiza smiled, as Rizu passed Kalden some bread, "Until we find out your real name, you're Kalden."

"No thanks," Kalden passed the bread back, "I don't feel like eating right now."

"Are you okay?" Tiza asked.

"It's a lot to take in at once," Kalden said, "I mean; I've lived a life up until now that no longer means anything. I can't remember a thing…not even my name. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react to that."

"You'll find a way," Rizu said, patting Kalden on the shoulder.

"The important thing is," Tiza said, as she got up, "You're going to be okay. You should rest, Kalden."

"I will," Kalden answered, "And, thank you. For everything."

Tiza nodded, and she and her brother left the room.

Kalden clutched his head. _How? How is it possible to forget a lifetime?_

_It's not. It can't be. Airbender…tattoos…_

Kalden ripped his bandages off his left arm hastily, and saw the burn marks. He rubbed on the burn marks shaped like arrows, and chipped off some of the dead skin. He traced the arrow from his shoulder down to his wrist, and clutched his head again.

"Agh!" Kalden yelled, as his head hit the pillow and he fell into unconsciousness.

**Somewhere in the sky**

"Aang, I have a question," Zuko said.

"Sure, Zuko, what's up?" Aang asked curiously.

"You used to have another airbender in your group. I think his name was…Avin. Why isn't he here now?"

The rest of the group fell silent and looked at Aang.

"Avin fell into the ocean stopping Azula from hitting me with lightning from behind. We haven't seen him since then."

"I'm sorry," Zuko said, "I know he was your friend."

"Sorry? For what?" Aang asked, grinning, "I know he's still out there."

"Really?" Zuko asked, confused, "What makes you say that?"

Aang exchanged glances with Toph, and put his hands behind his head. He lay down on Appa's soft head and watched the clouds roll by.

**Morning**

_A bunch of boys playing in the courtyard, on their air scooters, while one stayed out of the game, because he wasn't fast enough to play…_

"_Don't worry about Monk Gyatso or the Avatar," Afiko said, smiling at his young protégé, "Just remember your purpose, the reason you are alive." _

_The Fire Nation soldier laughed evilly at the boy's shouting, as the torturer put his flaming hand to the boy's blue tattoos…_

"_I'm sorry…please, if I had had a choice, I would never have…" The boy clenched his fists in sorrow, looking around at all the lifeless bodies, and running far, far away from the prison…_

"_Avin, you're my friend," a young boy said, smiling. He was bald, and had blue tattoos, shaped like arrows…_

"AHH!" Kalden shouted, sitting up in his bed abruptly. He hadn't dreamed that night. He had _remembered. _But, trying to recall what he had seen last night, Kalden felt the images, the words, slipping away, like he was trying to cup water in his hands.

_I have to work on that. My memories aren't GONE. They're…hiding. _

"Kalden! You ok?" Tiza asked, walking into the room.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess I was having nightmares," Kalden said sheepishly.

"Really? Well, you seem to be showing signs of improvement," Tiza said, as she handed Kalden some rice and meat, "I think you can try walking today."

"Sounds like fun," Kalden smirked.

"Come on, eat your food, and I'll be right back to see how you're doing." Tiza replied, walking out of the room.

Kalden ate hurriedly, and put the plate on the table near him. He quickly started taking off the bandages covering his arms.

"What are you doing?" Tiza asked, walking in with a glass of water, "Kalden, you shouldn't be taking those off!"

"My arms feel fine," Kalden said, biting at one of the bandages that wouldn't come off, "And, these bandages are itchy."

"Hmm…fine, go ahead and take them off," Tiza said, helping him get one of the more stubborn bandages off, "We do need to change them, anyway…"

As the last of the bandages fell off, Kalden looked at his burns.

"Incredible, isn't it…?" Tiza said breathlessly, looking at what used to be Kalden's tattoos.

"Not the word I'd choose for it," Kalden replies, as he scratched on one of the black arrows, and saw charred skin fall off, "But you're the doctor."

"Anyway," Tiza spoke up, "Your arms DO seem to have made a lot of progress. I don't think you need the bandages anymore, actually."

Tiza put the glass of water on the table. "Pick that up for me."

Kalden reached over and grabbed the water, and began gulping it down.

"Yeah, your arms have definitely healed," Tiza said excitedly, "I thought they weren't going to heal, so this is a good sign. Okay, next thing we should do is try walking. Think you're up for it?"

"Please," Kalden said, "No problem!"

Kalden moved over to the side of the bed, and as Tiza watched, put one foot slowly on the floor. The other followed, and Kalden got up slowly. He walked from one side of the room, and jumped back in bed.

"See? Easy." Kalden said.

"Very nice," Tiza smiled, "Though I think it should be a while before you do any hard psychical activity, you're definitely well on your way to a full recovery." She went into another room and came back with an herbal tea. "Drink this, and it should help speed your recovery along, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks," Kalden said.

"If you need anything, yell," Tiza said, writing in her notes as she walked out of the room.

"Right," Kalden said, twiddling his thumbs, "What I need is something entertaining to do-"

"In that case, you must be glad to see me," Kalden looked at the source of the sound, and saw a girl at the window. Her golden eyes twinkled, and she smiled mischievously.

"Come on, Avin," the girl said as she pulled Kalden through the window.


	2. Chapter 2: Have you seen the Avatar?

**A/N: Chapter 2, enjoy !**

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"Agh!" Kalden shouted as the girl pulled him through the forest, and he broke from her strong grip, "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm getting you out of here," The girl said, confused, "Avin, it's not safe for you to be here."

"Stop calling me that!" Kalden exclaimed, as he backed away from her slowly, "I'm Kalden."

"No, you're not…" The girl trailed off, and realization struck her. "You…Avin, you don't remember me, do you?"

Kalden looked at the girl, and sat on the ground, his head in his arms. "No…I don't remember. I can't remember anything."

"Oh, Avin…" the girl said sadly, kneeling down and reaching out to comfort the boy.

"You know who I was, right? My name…was Avin?" Kalden asked quietly, as the girl nodded.

"Can you tell me anything about who I was?" Kalden asked, "And who you are?"

The girl smiled, wiping a tear from her eye, "My name is Feizhi. I'm sorry, Av- Kalden. I...I didn't know you that well."

"Feizhi, were we friends?"

The girl remembered all the adventures, from escaping the Fire Nation to just talking about whether numbers or letters were better. All they had been through together…but looking at her friend, all the things that only she remembered now.

"Yeah," Feizhi said, a bit sadly, "We were friends."

"And…Avin was my name?" Kalden asked.

Feizhi nodded.

"I want to find out more about myself," Kalden said, "Any idea who might know?"

"The Avatar and his friends. You knew them, and I'm sure they'll be able to tell you a lot." Feizhi said quietly, as she got up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kalden asked, as the girl started turned to face Kalden.

"You don't remember me, Kalden. Its better we both go our separate ways until you do."

"But, Feizhi…" Kalden said, getting up slowly, "I don't know where to look for the Avatar, and I'm hurt. How am I supposed to find him?"

"The Avatar was last seen in an Earth Kingdom village along the coast," Feizhi muttered, "And don't worry about that leg. You've healed from worse."

"Really?" Kalden asked, scratching his head, "Well, I guess I'd better get going."

Feizhi took out a ferry ticket, and gave it to Kalden. "This is your ticket out of the Fire Nation. Do not talk to anyone, and stay hidden. Keep a low profile, and most importantly, do not airbend."

"Airbend?" Kalden asked as Feizhi walked deeper into the forest.

She turned and smiled, and said, "Wow, you really did forget everything. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when you finally do catch up with Aang."

"Aang…" Kalden whispered, as the name sounded familiar…he looked up, and Feizhi was gone.

Kalden walked out of the forest, and looked around. He could see the port from where he stood, and started walking down the winding path to the port, ferry ticket in hand.

_It's funny…but I have the strangest urge to go penguin-sledding…_

**With the Gaang**

"Remember, breathing exercises are important to firebending," Zuko said as Aang took deep breaths.

"Got it," Aang said in between breaths, and he clasped his hands together.

"Okay, let's see how you've improved," Zuko said, stepping behind his student.

Aang took one more deep breath, and got into his stance. Then he released a flurry of flames in quick succession, as he went through the basic firebending stances.

"Very nice," Zuko said, "But I notice that you hesitate as you go through the forms. Make sure you know what you're doing, and do it with confidence."

"Right," Aang said, panting.

"I think you've earned a break," Zuko said, stretching his arms, "Besides, don't you have airbending training left to do?"

"Yeah, I should go practice. Thanks, Sifu Hotman!" Aang exclaimed, running back to the campsite.

"And stop calling me that!" Zuko shouted after the Avatar.

Aang ran through the campsite, bowling over Sokka and stopping to get a drink of water.

"Hey, how did firebending training go?" Toph asked.

"It went great," Aang replied, wiping his face, "I really think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Aang, where are you off to in such a hurry?" Katara asked, as Aang grabbed some food and put it in a bag.

"I'm just going to do some training, Katara," Aang said, running into the forest, "I'll be back soon!"

"Just be careful!" Katara shouted after her friend.

Aang sprinted through the forest, past the tall trees, and stopped, about a mile from where the campsite was. Aang sighed as he got into an airbending stance, and looked across the clearing.

Avin used to train with him, and the two would always find a way to have a great time. (And get in lots of trouble, Aang chuckled to himself) Without him, airbending training had gone back to being nothing more than a lonely chore.

As he jumped and flipped through the air, Aang realized that finding an airbending partner wasn't actually what was bothering him.

It was guilt. Despite everything, he had managed to find another airbender. And as soon as he did- Avin went and got himself killed.

To be honest, Aang admitted, it wasn't totally his fault. Avin had, after all, joined Aang and his friends under the pretenses of friendship, and later betrayed them to the Fire Nation.

Avin also seemed a bit…psychotic. He seemed like a different person at times. He also had a theory about a conspiracy in the Air Council. It all seemed pretty crazy, and no one could doubt Avin was a bit mentally unstable.

On the other hand, Avin wasn't evil. He had decided to fight alongside Aang at the last second, proving he did have some good in him after all. But his double-betrayal cost him badly.

The truth was, even if Aang didn't feel guilt, it still hurt to lose a friend. And at the end of the day, Avin had really been his friend.

Aang shot a blast of air in frustration, and sat down. He started meditating, like Monk Gyatso had taught him to do whenever he was feeling angry of frustrated.

Soon, the feelings were gone, replaced by a calm peace of mind. Aang sighed as he got up, and looked at the setting sun. The sky blended in a mix of pink, red, and orange, meaning training was over, and it was time to get back to the campsite for dinner.

Aang felt a strange feeling grip him, almost as if he were being watched. He shrugged it off, though, thinking, _Sokka must be rubbing off on me. Now I'M getting paranoid! _

Meanwhile, the figure hidden in the high branches of a tree close by smiled._ The last airbender, huh?_ _And he's the Avatar, at that. Funny, though…he's a lot younger than I thought he'd be. I wonder how he's managed to survive, let alone stay young like that…oop, he's on the move. _

The girl jumped silently through the trees, following Aang all the way back to the campsite.

**At a port along the Earth Kingdom coast**

_Okay…I made it to the Earth Kingdom…_Kalden thought to himself, getting off the ferry, _now what? It's not like I have the faintest idea HOW to find the Avatar…Aang…whoever he is!_

Kalden was starting to consider just walking around and asking "Have you seen the Avatar? Have you seen the Avatar?" until someone told him, when he saw a small girl crying.

_Hey…_Kalden walked over to the little girl and asked, "Hey, what's wrong? You shouldn't be here by yourself. Where's your family?"

The girl sniffled, and said, "I lost my family."

Kalden's eyes softened, and he said, "I'm sorry. I know how that feels."

"Did you lose your family too?" The girl asked, as Kalden wiped a tear from her face.

"Something like that," Kalden replied. _It's weird, but…this feels very familiar…_

His hands twitched, as if they wanted to do something, but couldn't. Kalden looked down at his hands, and said to the girl, "Hey, I have something that will cheer you up!"

_I hope this cheers her up, _Kalden thought as he let his hands move freely. They swerved and went through a series of motions, and a small gust of wind formed in the palm of his hand.

Kalden grinned widely as he moved his hand closer to the girl, and she leaned in to take the gust of wind. As soon as Kalden let go of it the miniature tornado it faded into the air with a small _poof, _and the girl giggled as it disappeared.

"Hey, I made you smile," Kalden said, as a soldier shouted.

"Hey, you there!" A Fire Nation soldier ran up to Kalden, "Did you just airbend? You did, didn't you?!"

Kalden remembered what Feizhi had told him…_No airbending…to be honest, though, it's not like I was EXPECTING it…just kind of snuck up on me…_

"You better go," Kalden said to the little girl, "I really hope you find your family." She nodded and ran off into the village.

"What's the problem here?" Two more soldiers joined the first.

"He just airbended! I saw him!"

"I always wondered, is it airbent, or airbended?" Kalden asked as a few soldiers ran up to him.

"Well, I think its airbended," one of the soldiers said.

"Really? Sounds like airbent is the proper way-" another began.

"Oh, be quiet!" The first soldier said, as he pointed at Kalden, "The point is, I saw him airbending!"

"Well, you guys," Kalden said, backing away slowly, "This has been a fascinating dive into the world of the…past tenses…of verbs…but I really have to get going."

"Hey, you're not getting away that easily," A soldier exclaimed, as Kalden jumped over a cabbage cart. However, he timed his jump wrong and ending up bowling over the cart, sending cabbages flying, along with the man running the cart.

"My cabbages!!" The man shouted as Kalden scrambled to his feet and, looking embarrassed, ran into the village.

"After him!" A soldier shouted, and the three started running after him.

Kalden pushed past a group of teenagers as he raced through the streets of the small village. _Hey, wait…I should be looking for the Avatar…_

"Have you seen the Avatar?" Kalden asked as he ran past an old woman, who shook her head.

"Have you seen the Avatar?" Kalden asked a group of kids playing in the street, and they all shook their heads.

Kalden ran across the plaza, where he asked a small boy, an old man, a newlywed couple, and an attractive teenage girl if they had seen the Avatar.

Barring the girl (who had hit Kalden across the face when he started staring) all of them had the same response: they had not seen the Avatar.

"Hey, maybe…" Kalden turned around and saw the Fire Nation soldiers that had been chasing him across the village. They caught up to him, and surrounded the young airbender.

"Have you guys seen the Avatar?" Kalden said.

Next thing he knew, Kalden was sitting in a prison cell. He leered at the guards who had brought him in, as they sat down, panting and wheezing, trying to recover from their Kalden-chase.

_Can't believe I got my butt thrown in jail, _Kalden said, _I bet the Avatar never gets in this kind of trouble…_

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**A/N: Hope you liked it ! Anyone familiar with 'muscle memory' ? Could that have something to do with Av- er, Kalden's little airbending stunt...? And, what's with Aang's new stalker? Chapter 3 coming soon !**


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